


Sacrifice

by karygurl



Category: Seduce Me (Visual Novel)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-08 00:57:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4284564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karygurl/pseuds/karygurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mika has a nightmare about the incubi sacrificing themselves for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sacrifice

The Abyssal Plains could possibly be called beautiful, if unsettling, though Mika was too preoccupied to take much of it in. She was standing at the entrance of an imposing fortress, its most defining and gruesome feature a tower of skulls that reached toward the purple sky and reflected the daylight with a dull, sickly shine.

Mika’s eyes lowered and she glanced behind her, instinctively looking toward the loud, chattering cacophony that was growing continuously louder. Hordes of demons were approaching in droves, blanketing the landscape that stretched out before her. Somehow she knew that they weren’t marching for the castle; they were coming for her.

Suddenly her view was cut off as someone stepped in front of her. She blinked, realizing that she was surrounded by the five incubi brothers in their demon forms. They had taken up defensive positions around her, Sam at the fore, his back to her.

“ **James. Get her home.** ” She couldn’t see his expression but the tension in his stance was obvious enough, every muscle taut and primed.

“Sam…” she choked on his name, still watching the approaching demons move in waves toward them.

When he turned to look at her, she was surprised to see an easygoing smirk on his face. “ **I got this, piece of cake.** ” He bent down and gently pressed his lips to her forehead, pulling just a bit of energy from her as he leaned back to look into her eyes. “ **For luck. That’s how it works, right?** ”

She made an attempt at a shaky little smile, which seemed to placate him enough and he turned around again to face the enemy. The combined footsteps of the masses of demons shook the ground with wild tremors, throwing off her already hysterical heartbeat.

From her side Matthew grasped her hand, giving her a bright smile that was only a little bittersweet. She could feel him pull a little energy from her as well before he stepped up next to Sam.

“ **Zecaeru** ,” Sam growled his brother’s true name with a warning, but Matthew didn’t flinch.

“ **No way am I letting you have all the fun. Why don’t we make this a little more interesting?** ” With a flash of light Matthew conjured dozens of knives at once, the blades fanning out from his hands. “ **Whoever takes out the most wins.** ”

“ **Heh. You’re on.** ”

Mika’s attention was drawn to Sam when his body seemed to tense and expand, muscles bulging under his skin. She only caught a glance however as Damien took hold of her arm and pulled her back toward the imposing castle.

Once they were inside James and Erik quickly moved to shut the massive doors behind them, the thick wood muffling most of the swelling din and cutting off the rise of an otherworldly roar. Had that been Sam?

There wasn’t time to wonder. The stone walls of the grand entrance hall seemed to echo with skittering movement and cackling, the reverberation making it hard to pinpoint numbers or origin. There were stairs leading up, and doorways not just to the throne room ahead but off to the side in multiple directions on each wall, they couldn’t possibly watch them all–

From the corner of her eye she caught Erik’s eyes flaring gold, and suddenly each doorway was lined with purple tentacles, tightly knitting themselves together to form barriers. Erik captured her hand in his and pressed a soft, reverent kiss to her knuckles, the energy he pulled from her leaving with a whisper. “ **I’ll be right behind you, princess. Hurry.** ”

Before she could respond she was pulled along again through the grand archway that lead to the throne room ahead. Her eyes remained locked on Erik’s until she had passed through the arch and then it was sealed off as well, tendrils rising and breaking her line of sight.

She glanced around as she was pulled further into the room, the sight of the throne making her stomach churn; she recognized it from visions the incubi had shared. Damien distracted her from the recollection when he leaned in to kiss her cheek, taking just a sip of her energy before he disappeared before her eyes. She glanced around and noticed several copies of him appear at each of the remaining doorways around the throne room, barring the doors and physically blocking them.

James stood next to the throne itself, a pentagram of power already glowing softly at his feet. He raised his arm to beckon to her and she hurried to his side, lowering her head instinctively when he leaned down to press a kiss to her hair. He took more of her energy than her brothers had, enough to temporarily make her vision swim.

“ **Forgive me, I need some of your energy for the spell.** ”

“Please, don’t apologize, do whatever you need to do to get us home,” she said breathlessly, her head swiveling to look behind her. She heard a gruff shout beyond one of the doors that led to the interior of the castle, and the sound of scuffling rose into a full-out brawl beyond Erik’s seal.

She bit her lip, desperately hoping all of the brothers would be able to follow in time. She caught a glimpse of the Pink Lady Cafe as the portal in front of James finally opened, but her head snapped to the side when one of the side doors explosively splintered with a loud bang, Damien’s shades fighting desperately to hold back the intruder. Out of the corner of her eye, the tentacles blocking off the entrance hall unraveled.

“James…” Her voice wavered.

“ ** _Go_ , miss.**”

Erik’s seal was gone and she caught sight of a body being tossed into the throne room from the entrance hall, landing in an unsettling heap. She recognized the incubus form and the tattoos–no, _that couldn’t be Erik_ -–

She was still staring in horror, unable to look away, when James pushed her through the portal. She stumbled and tried to catch her balance, her senses suddenly thrown off at the feeling of passing between worlds. She quickly spun around to reach out and help him come through when she caught sight of his small, sad smile.

“ **Live well.** ”

By the time she screamed, the portal was closed. She stared blankly at where it had been, minutes of stunned silence ticking by before the tension holding her together dissipated and she fell to her knees.

  
The feeling of falling was what woke Mika up. She held her hands out to steady herself even though she was lying down, her heart hammering away in her chest. She tried to swallow and nearly choked; the panic clawing its way from her chest up into her throat made her feel like she was drowning.

She didn’t recognize where she was, which fueled her alarm. She was on a couch in a dark living room, it wasn’t hers but it was a little familiar. Another moment passed before she remembered that it was Naomi’s living room. She was spending the night on Naomi’s couch after they had hung out all evening.

In the darkness she could just make out her phone sitting on the coffee table and she reached for it, debating whether to call one of the boys. When the screen lit up, nearly blinding her, she saw that it was almost two in the morning. She didn’t want to wake them, but she couldn’t shake the sick, apprehensive feeling that was gnawing away at her stomach. She was positive that nothing was wrong, _but what if there was?_

In the end she pulled her shoes on in the low light and used her phone’s screen to illuminate her way enough that she could leave a note for Naomi, saying she didn’t feel well and was heading home but to call her in the morning for a trip to IHOP, her treat. Leaving the note on the kitchen counter, Mika blindly dug through her purse until she found her car keys and headed out.

The drive was over quickly, since there was almost no traffic through the suburbs so late at night, and she left her car parked right by the entrance to the mansion as she half-walked, half-ran up to the front door and let herself inside.

She closed it behind her quietly, intending to sneak in and not disturb anyone, but she nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a loud shout from the living room, followed by angry cursing. Damien was just stepping into the entry hall, a small frown on his face as he hurried towards her.

“Is everything okay? We didn’t expect you to be back tonight…” He trailed off, brow still furrowed, probably confused by the fractured mental images he was getting from her. Her mind was still flitting erratically, despite her trying to push the memories of the dream aside.

“Who’s still up?” Mika asked while gesturing a hand toward the living room, trying to keep up the charade of a normal conversation. Maybe if she faked it long enough, she could convince her mind to give up on haunting her. Another burst of yelling made her wince, the noisy echo in the empty house jarring her. Then again, she preferred hearing that rather than silence. “Sounds like Sam and Matthew.”

Damien nodded. “James and Erik went to bed a little while ago.”

Her eyes drifted to the stairs, and she chewed on her lip nervously. “Do you think it’d be okay if I checked on them? Or, would that be…” Her words trailed off when he wordlessly offered her his hand and an encouraging smile. She was in no shape to refuse so she gratefully took his outstretched hand, his warm fingers curling around hers. He let her set their pace as they ascended the stairs together.

Once Mika arrived outside of the doors of the incubi’s bedrooms she hesitated, so Damien ended up being the one to turn the doorknobs and crack the doors open slightly. She peeked into James’ and Erik’s rooms as briefly as she could, just long enough to assure herself that they were there, whole, and breathing, before pulling the doors quietly closed again.

Feeling a little mollified, she stood in the hallway forcing herself to take deep breaths. She was still fighting images just out of the corner of her eye, as if her concentration was the only thing that kept her from slipping back into her nightmare.

Damien shifted his weight and she blinked, realizing he had been standing there quietly and waiting for her to get a hold of herself. She winced. _Get it together, Mika!_

“If you feel like staying up, you’re welcome to come watch Sam and Matthew duke it out with me?”

He was holding his hand out to her again, and that’s what ultimately made up her mind. She took his hand again wordlessly, happy to be able to put off going back to sleep. Just the thought of lying in her bed alone, fighting back the images her mind would conjure out of the darkness, made her tighten her grip on Damien’s hand as they headed back downstairs.

Naturally, Matthew and Sam were still fighting as they entered the living room. “Don’t be a sore loser just because I won again, Sam,” Matthew taunted.

“Again!!” Sam shouted, glaring at the TV like it was its fault that he had lost.

“Hey guys, give Mika my spot?” Damien asked, and the two on the couch shifted apart to make space between them without looking away from the game. Damien helped her duck in front of Matthew quickly and sat her down between the two on the couch before he settling himself on the floor in front of her.

“Damien, you don’t have to–”

He turned toward her, and the look in his eye was enough to cut her off. He wasn’t glaring, but there was a seriousness in his gaze; he saw right through her and he wasn’t going to tolerate any arguing. She wasn’t about to cross him so she sat back between Sam and Matthew, who were so focused on the game that she was certain they had missed the exchange anyway.

She was close enough that Sam and Matthew’s arms occasionally jostled her as they played, but she honestly loved the contact of them at her sides and Damien leaning back against her legs because it helped ground her. She still had an uneasy feeling that gnawed at her, like she could feel something alarming just behind her, but being surrounded by smack-talking incubi was helping to smooth out the sharp edges of her anxiety.

Mika was just beginning to zone out contentedly when Sam elbowed her a little harder than usual to catch her attention. “Hey, so what’re you doing back tonight, anyway?”

She inhaled sharply and hesitated before she responded. “Just… didn’t feel good, really.”

Matthew glanced over at her and frowned, his eyes darting back to the screen briefly before returning to her. “Is there anything we can do for you?”

She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “No, I’ll be fine, thanks though.”

He returned the smile and turned back to the game. “Okay, just tell us if you need anything! You know we’d do anything for you, right?”

He said it so lightly, but hearing those words out loud hit her with such force that she could feel her heart seize in her chest, icy needles of panic flooding her veins. Her throat was constricting and she fought to swallow down her fear. “Please don’t…” Her voice cracked and she bit her lip, unable to finish. She wasn’t even sure how to end that sentence. _Please don’t say that. Please don’t sacrifice yourselves for me. Please don’t die. Please don’t leave me._ She squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to stop the tears threatening to spill over and will away the images that were haunting her. Why were they still plaguing her? It was just a stupid dream!

“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to say something wrong…?” Matthew’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away, confused but eager to appease her.

“It’s… I just…” She exhaled sharply, fighting to get the words past her throat. “I’m just so glad you guys are here.”

Her head ducked suddenly from the pressure of a hand settling on her head. She guessed that it was Sam’s, and at nearly the same moment she felt Matthew reach over to wrap his fingers around her hand. Her eyes opened and she met Damien’s gaze as he shared a gentle smile with her and wrapped his arms around her legs. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered to her.

He said it so sincerely, Mika believed him. She exhaled again and felt so much tension leave with her breath. Her heartbeat slowed and the tension unknotted and dissipated from her chest. It was impossible to be too anxious when she was surrounded by them, their touch, their warmth. Were they enthralling her? She didn’t care. Everything was going to be okay.

Glancing up at the TV she noticed that the game was paused, and in a fit of good humor she reached out with her free hand and plucked the controller from Matthew’s lap and deposited it in front of Damien.

Matthew gave her an exaggerated pout. “Hey! Don’t tell me I’m not allowed to play anymore?”

She shrugged, giving him a tiny smile that threatened to grow much wider. “Just trying to let Sam win for once.”

“Like hell! I can take Matthew, no problem!”

“Says the guy who’s been trying and failing all night to beat me!”

She leaned back into the couch cushions as the incubi on either side leaned over to get in each other’s faces. Despite the two of them arguing right in front her, she found herself closing her eyes. Adrenaline had apparently been the only thing keeping her upright, because she drifted off before Damien even stepped in to break up the argument.

“…didn’t get more than some images, she didn’t want to talk about it. I think we all died?”

Mika felt herself being shifted, not awake enough to open her eyes but catching a few words being spoken around her. She felt herself sway as she was pulled up against something… a chest that hummed as James spoke and carried her to her room.

“Erik, could you…”

“I’ll take care of it.” There was no flirtatiousness in his voice, just concern. Her thoughts drifted away, happy that at least for the night, she wouldn’t have to worry about another nightmare.


End file.
